Apparatus, system and method for electronically signing electronic transcripts

1. A method for electronically signing an electronic transcript,

comprising:

obtaining an electronic transcript representative of transcript data;

generating a first representation by performing a first hash operation on the electronic transcript;

appending data that is representative of a user to the first representation to form an appended first representation;

generating a second representation by performing a second hash operation on the appended first representation;

communicating the second representation to a digital notary service;

receiving from the digital notary service a digital notary record based on the communicated second representation; and

forming an electronically signed electronic transcript by bundling the digital notary record, the electronic transcript, and the data that is representative of the user.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising

fetching an electronic image of a signature of the user; and

importing the electronic image of the signature of the user to the electronic transcript.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and the second hash operation comprises a RIPEMD-160 hash operation.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the digital notary record comprises a time stamp of the second representation.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data that is representative of the user includes a user name that uniquely identifies the user.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the data that is representative of the user also includes data uniquely identifying the electronic transcript.

7. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

obtaining the electronic image of the signature of the user and storing the electronic image of the signature of the user,

wherein fetching the electronic image of the signature of the user comprises fetching the electronic image from storage.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein importing the electronic image of the signature of the user to the electronic transcript comprises:

identifying a signature location within one of a plurality of pages of the electronic transcript; and

merging the electronic image of the signature to the signature location.

9. A method for electronically signing an electronic transcript, comprising:

receiving a signature document having a signature thereon from a user;

scanning the signature into a signature image file, wherein the signature image file comprises an image of the signature;

receiving an electronic transcript comprising a plurality of pages, at least one of the pages to have a signature therein certifying the accuracy of the transcript;

receiving signature location information that indicates a location within the electronic transcript where the image of the signature is to appear when the electronic transcript is displayed on a viewer;

incorporating the electronic transcript, the signature image file and the signature location information into an electronic transcript file;

performing a first hash operation on the electronic transcript file to generate a representation of the contents of the electronic transcript file;

concatenating data that identifies a user to the representation of the contents of the electronic transcript file; and

performing a second hash operation on the data and the representation, the second hash operation generating a representation of the contents of the electronic transcript file and the data;

providing for the recording and time stamping by a digital notary service of the representation of the contents of the electronic transcript file and the data file;

obtaining a notary record from the digital notary service of the time stamping;

digitally signing the notary record; and

forming an electronically signed electronic transcript by bundling the digitally signed notary record with the electronic transcript file.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first and second hash operations are a RIPEMD-160 hash operation.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the data includes a user name uniquely identifying the user.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the data includes a unique identifier that uniquely identifies the transcript.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising displaying the electronic transcript with the image of the signature.

14. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that when executed on a computer cause the computer to:

receive an electronic transcript comprising a plurality of pages, at least one of the pages to have a signature therein;

receive signature location information that indicates a location within the electronic transcript where the signature is to appear when the electronic transcript is displayed on a viewer;

incorporate the electronic transcript, a signature image file and signature location information into an electronic transcript file, wherein the signature image file comprises an image of the signature;

perform a first hash operation on the electronic transcript file to generate a representation of the contents of the electronic transcript file;

concatenate data that identifies a user to the representation of the contents of the electronic transcript file; and

perform a second hash operation on the data concatenated to the representation, the second hash operation generating a representation of the contents of the electronic transcript file and the data;

provide for the recording and time stamping by a digital notary service of the representation of the contents of the electronic transcript file and the data;

obtain a notary record from the digital notary service of the time stamping;

digitally sign the notary record; and

form an electronically signed electronic transcript by bundling the digitally signed notary record with the electronic transcript file.